Ueda Castle

Japanese: 上田城 - うえだじょう

Hirajiro Castle was located in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture. It is a nationally designated historic site. It is one of the "100 Great Castles in Japan" selected by the Japan Castle Foundation. It was the residence of the Sanada clan during the Azuchi-Momoyama period, and the headquarters of the Ueda Domain during the Edo period. It was built in 1583 (Tensho 11) by Sanada Masayuki, a former retainer of the Takeda clan of Kai. The Tokugawa attacked the castle twice, in 1585 (Tensho 13) and in 1600 (Keicho 5), just before the Battle of Sekigahara, but were repelled. These battles are known as the First and Second Battles of Ueda. After the Battle of Sekigahara, Sanada Masayuki and his second son Nobushige (Sanada Yukimura) were sentenced to death for siding with the Western Army, but at the urging of Honda Tadakatsu and others, they were exiled to Mount Koya and later to Kudoyama, and Ueda Castle was destroyed by the Tokugawa. Masayuki's eldest son, Sanada Nobuyuki (Nobuyuki), who sided with the Eastern Army in the Battle of Sekigahara, became the lord of Ueda Domain and built a camp on the site of the Sannomaru. Later, when the Sanada clan was transferred to Matsushiro in Shinano Province, the Sengoku clan entered the castle and rebuilt the destroyed Ueda Castle to its current appearance. The three turrets (South, North, and West turrets) in the main citadel, made of black clapboard waterproofed with soot and persimmon tannins, were constructed during the Sengoku clan's time. Three generations after the Sengoku clan, the Matsudaira clan entered the castle and ushered in the Meiji Restoration, but the remains of the castle were destroyed and relocated, and only the stone walls and one turret remain within the castle. In the Showa era, the two relocated turrets were restored to their original locations in the main citadel, and in the Heisei era, the turret gate and walls were restored. Currently, the former Ninomaru is maintained as the Ueda Castle Ruins Park. At the site of the main citadel, there is Matsudaira Shrine (also called Sanada Shrine), which was built in the Meiji era and enshrines the successive lords of the castle. The site of Sannomaru, where the feudal lord's residence was located, is now the grounds of Ueda High School, and the residence gate and moat from the Matsudaira era remain here. It is about a 12-minute walk from Ueda Station on the JR Nagano Shinkansen, Shinano Railway, and Ueda Electric Railway Bessho Line. ◇It is also called Amagafuchi Castle or Sanada Castle.

Source: Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles Information

Japanese:

長野県上田市にあった平城(ひらじろ)。国指定史跡。日本城郭協会選定による「日本100名城」の一つ。安土桃山時代の真田氏の居城で、江戸時代には上田藩の藩庁が置かれた。1583年（天正11）に、甲斐武田氏旧臣の真田昌幸が築いた。徳川氏は、1585年（天正13）と1600年（慶長5）の関ヶ原の戦いの直前の2度にわたり同城を攻めたが撃退された。この戦いは第一次および第二次上田合戦と呼ばれる。関ヶ原の戦い後、真田昌幸と次男の信繁（真田幸村）は西軍に与したため死罪を命じられたが、本多忠勝らの嘆願で高野山に、のちに九度山に流罪となり、上田城は徳川氏により破壊された。関ヶ原の戦いで東軍に与した昌幸長男の真田信之（信幸）が上田藩主となり、三の丸跡に陣屋を構えた。その後、真田氏が信濃国松代に転封すると仙石氏が入城し、破却された上田城を現在残る姿に再建した。本丸の煤と柿渋で防水した黒い下見板張を用いた3棟の櫓(やぐら)（南櫓、北櫓、西櫓）などは、仙石氏の時代に整備されたものである。仙石氏3代の後、松平氏が入城して明治維新を迎えたが、城の遺構の破却と移築が進み、城内には石垣と櫓1棟だけが残る状態になった。昭和に入り、移築されていた櫓2棟が本丸の元の位置に復元され、さらに平成に入って櫓門や塀などが復元された。現在、旧二の丸が上田城跡公園として整備されている。本丸跡には、明治に建立された歴代城主を祀る松平神社（真田神社とも呼ばれる）がある。藩主居館のあった三の丸跡は上田高校の敷地となっており、ここには松平氏時代の屋敷門と堀が残されている。JR長野新幹線・しなの鉄道・上田電鉄別所線上田駅から徒歩約12分。◇尼ヶ淵城、真田城とも呼ばれる。

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